A recent poll and research project by the Chartered Management Institute found that, despite good intentions, many employers are still failing to take concrete steps to tackle underrepresentation of certain demographics of their workforce, including women, ethnic minorities, disabled workers, those from different socio-economic backgrounds, workers with different sexual orientations and most notably – older workers.
The lack of concrete actions to focus on creating inclusive cultures for older demographics of the workforce creates a risk between what employers claim to know about their workforce and how they focus on inclusivity, and what they actually do in practice to achieve change.
This also comes at a time when there is a growing call for more awareness and support for menopausal people in the workplace – recognising that menopausal people are one of the fastest growing working demographics in the UK – and an increasing focus on female representation at board and executive management levels. You can read more about these issues in our blog posts below:
- The Menopause Revolution – the growing call for more awareness and support for menopause in the workplace | EmploymentLinks | Linklaters
- New rules for listed companies on diversity reporting and board targets: new, or just more of the same? | The Diversity Faculty Blog | Linklaters
Statistics tell us that workers want to remain in the workplace for longer and workers over 50 represent one of the largest demographics of our workforce. And yet, despite there being a range of ways in which employers can implement tangible practices to invest in older workforces, many employers do not actively do so and fail to focus on recruitment of older generations or actively tackle ageism within their workplace.
Further reading and external sources:
- Let’s talk about Age in the workplace – CMI (managers.org.uk)
- Age-inclusive guide for employers (cipd.co.uk)
- Most UK employers failing to act against ageism, survey shows | Financial Times (ft.com)
For further information, please contact:
Laurie Ollivent, Linklaters
laurie.ollivent@linklaters.com
